


Journey to Hades

by Shadow_of_Quill



Series: Resurrections [1]
Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_of_Quill/pseuds/Shadow_of_Quill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All he had to do was look behind him.</p><p>He kept climbing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey to Hades

**Author's Note:**

> Did anyone else know that some of the oldest references to Orpheus suggest that he succeeded in rescuing his wife in some versions of the story?

He was climbing down a cliff, the track he was following small and badly-cut. He stumbled frequently, and skidded out of control once or twice. The stones were black, and sharp - but the cuts he got from them didn't hurt, and the bruises he should have been covered with were nonexistant. His overpowering feeling was of boredom, as he kept struggling down with no idea of why. 

_He woke up with a sense of dull irritation._

The dream continued the next night, and the night after that. He was never sure if he was getting anywhere; there was almost no light, and he had no idea how much further he'd have to go to reach the ground. There was no urgency to the climb, though, so he continued down. 

_He brushed the dream aside each day when he woke. It was nothing important._

He felt a dull sense of surprise when he finally reached the end of the cliff. The ground was a mass of rocks, scattered with bones and old rubbish, littered with hidden potholes and sharp stones. 

He hadn't realised he was barefoot. 

The cuts didn't bother him. 

He walked on, following an innate knowledge of which direction he wanted. 

_The task force commented on how well he was handling Ryuuzaki's death. He played his part, and smirked in secret - and wondered why he felt a phantom ache in the soles of his feet._

The creature before him was huge, and only vaguely canine. Its three heads snarled menacingly, and one of them lunged to snap at him. 

"Stop," he told it. There was none of the panic he should have been feeling at such a monster trying to eat him. The most he could bring up was a weary disapproval. "Something else has already claimed me as its prey. You cannot have me." 

The monster snarled again, but backed away and let him pass. 

He continued on. 

_For the brief moments that he remembered his dream, he wondered what he'd meant when he told the Cerberus that he was something else's prey. The question faded with the rest of the dream._

The river was filthy, oozing instead of flowing. He stared at the murky waters, wondering if it was too viscous to swim in. 

"Are you coming?" 

He barely glanced at the ferryman. "I can't pay." 

The ferryman snorted. "As if that matters." When he didn't respond, the ferryman heaved a weary sigh. "The ford's in that direction." 

"Thank you," he said, surprised into glancing up and meeting the ferryman's eyes. 

The ferryman was the one who shuddered and looked away. "Sooner you're gone, the better," he muttered. 

_He woke with the phantom sensation of something dragging at his calves._

The huge cavern he finally reached was packed with grey phantoms, barely recognisable as once being human. On a huge throne sat the Lord of Hades, watching him. 

" **You have come a long way,** " he said impassively. 

He nodded. "Yes." 

" **None who come here can leave.** " 

"Is there enough of me left for you to take hold of and keep?" he asked, genuinely curious. 

The Lord of Hades narrowed his eyes, showing that he'd scored an unwitting point. " **Who are you here for?** " 

His eyes skipped through the crowd of shadows, searching out that one familiar form - there! 

He walked over to the one he'd been seeking, and finally saw himself reflected in the dark eyes. There were dried tearstains on his face, which looked younger than it should. His chest was bare, revealing the bloody space and teethmarks where something with inhuman jaws had torn his chest open and eaten at his heart. 

He was transparent, barely real. 

The Lord of Hades spoke again. " **You must call him by his real name if you wish for him to leave with you.** " 

He frowned slightly. He had killed this man. Why would he want to restore him to life? 

All he would have to do would be to use the alias the man himself had told him, and the man would be trapped here forever. 

"L Lawliet." 

He didn't know where the words came from. 

The Lord of Hades was as impassive as ever. " **He may follow you. You may try to lead him back. Should you turn to see him during your return, however, he will remain here forever.** " 

_On waking, he couldn't tell if what he felt was fury or elation, or just cold fear creeping through him._

His assurance that he knew the right direction had vanished. He followed half-remembered landmarks, uncaring as to whether he would escape or simply be left wandering for the rest of eternity. 

There was no sense of anything following him. 

_Something made him less eager to write in the Death Note than usual. Ryuk laughed behind him, eyes glowing, and refused to explain the joke._

The river was easier to ford this time. He refused to admit that it seemed less real than it had, knowing with the logic of dreams that it meant he was the one who was less real. 

He told himself that he was hoping L had fallen to the pull within it. 

_Half-formed impulse had him looking at old Greek myths. Misa found him curled into a ball around a book open to the myth of Orpheus and Euridyce, laughing as if it would hide the tears streaming down his face._

"Orpheus physically went to rescue his wife, didn't he?" he asked, not looking around at the emptiness behind him. "I wonder if you'll be a ghost, doomed to haunt the world forever, or if you'll wake in your coffin." He felt Kira's evil sneer pulling at his lips. "This might almost be worthwhile if it means that's what will happen to you." 

There was no response. 

_He wondered, half-awake, why he wasn't dreaming of Izanagi instead; but Orpheus had sought to rescue a mortal, not a goddess._

_And some of the oldest stories hinted that he had succeeded._

All he had to do was look behind him, and this would be over. One glance, and his enemy would be trapped with no escape. 

He kept walking. 

_Misa was easily reassured. The task force were easily fooled._

_That was why he was dreaming of this, wasn't it? Because his life had returned to being too easy, and he wanted the challenge he'd faced from L back._

_That had to be the only reason._

His footprints showed surprisingly clearly, old dried blood leading them to the cliff. Cerberus snorted with disgust as he walked past. 

He was already too transparent for the monster to try to eat. 

_Ryuk's laughter was growing louder by the day._

They reached the base of the cliff. He wondered if he would make it to the top before he vanished. 

He just had to look behind him. 

He started climbing. 

_Despite his laughter, Ryuk seemed to be growing uneasy. He didn't ask, simply threw more apples at the shinigami._

He wondered what he'd see if he looked in L's eyes again. L's eyes had only ever reflected the person he was looking at, never revealing anything of himself. 

He thought that he might be the one who wasn't real. 

He climbed further. 

_"Should I have him exhumed?" he asked Ryuk, half-seriously. The flinch he got in response made him laugh as he handed over yet another apple._

The climb was peaceful, in its way. He ignored what he was climbing towards. 

He still hadn't looked back. 

_There were faint stains on the sheets when he woke up. He refused to acknowledge them, or the way they grew darker as the nights went by._

He was stood at the top of the cliff. This was his final chance. All he had to do was turn and look, and his enemy would be trapped here for eternity. 

He lifted his hand, looking through it with a sense of dull inevitability. Whatever was preying on him, whatever was eating his heart, whatever had stolen so much of him that not even the Lord of Hades could take hold of what was left - it had almost finished its meal. 

"Do you think I taste like apples?" he asked with morbid curiousity. 

There was no response. 

"Come on." 

There was no response. 

He stepped forwards, passing the final moment when he could turn to look behind himself. 

_L's eyes flew open._


End file.
